Right Plant Right Place: Choosing the Best Plants for Your Site

Name: Right Plant Right Place: Choosing the Best Plants for Your Site
Start: 2026-04-16T16:30:00-07:00
Location: UW Center For Urban Horticulture

Schedule

Thu, 16 Apr, 2026 at 04:30 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

UW Center For Urban Horticulture | Seattle, WA

Cost: $30
“Right plant, right place” means that plants do best when they’re in the right setting. Aspects of your location (sun, water, space, and soil makeup) all factor into whether a plant survives or thrives. Too much of one, not enough of another, and plants will struggle. Gardeners can find themselves fighting nature. Successful gardeners understand what we can control and what we can’t, and how to work with the characteristics of a site to get the most out of a landscape.
In this class, we’ll learn how to read your landscape, including on-site practice. What is your sun exposure? Does your soil retain moisture? Is this plant going to ultimately get larger than the space can handle? And if you already have the wrong plant, are there ways to work around past siting mistakes? In addition, we’ll talk about shopping! How to read plant tags, assess the plants in a pot, and what resources you can use to get realistic information about what a plant needs.
This class will focus on ornamentals (trees, shrubs, perennials) but the basic principles can be applied to vegetable and annual plantings. This class is open to everyone but is geared towards home gardeners (experienced and novice are welcome!)
Cynthia Welte has been working in horticulture for over 25 years, in nurseries, gardening in private and public gardens and campuses, and in administration at botanical gardens in the Seattle area. She teaches horticulture at Edmonds College, leads tours at the Arboretum, and gardens at home in Beacon Hill, Seattle.